Aardman · University of Liverpool · LJMU · 2020

Immersive Shaun the Sheep

A £1.08m AHRC research partnership to build a headset-free, AI-driven Shaun the Sheep experience in Shanghai.

Role
Co-investigator
Organisation
Aardman · University of Liverpool · LJMU ↗
When
2020
Areas
Research · AI · Location-based experience · Animation

Led by Professor Richard Koeck with Dr Shan Luo and Aardman senior producer Stephanie Owen, the project set out to build a genuinely new cinematic, AI-driven, spatially immersive way of storytelling: visitors of all ages interacting directly with a Shaun the Sheep story in real time, without headsets, gloves or personal devices, in partnership with the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

It was funded through the AHRC Research-Industry Creative Partnership and the UKRI Fund for International Collaboration, with a combined project value of £1.08 million, and brought together three academic partners with Aardman, the Media Industry Association and Digital Fun, supported by the University's Virtual Engineering Centre.